Contributed to NYT, “Encouraging civilian sacrifice to gain sympathy for Hamas”
“Now it is Israel, but next time it will be any country.”
“We must be aware that we may be subject to a terrorist attack,” he emphasized.
Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog criticized on the 3rd (local time) the phenomenon of many parts of the world, including the West, justifying and supporting Hamas’ barbaric attacks on Israel.
In an article he contributed to the New York Times (NYT) on this day, he pointed out that protests supporting the complete destruction of Israel are taking place in capitals of European countries. He also lamented that professors and students at American universities are making speeches and signing petitions that justify and even praise terrorism.
He pointed out that some countries are refusing to condemn Hamas and are criticizing Israel’s response while making statements justifying Hamas’ atrocities, a phenomenon that did not occur during the 9/11, London, Barcelona, and Baghdad attacks.
He said that all of these events show that terrorist ideology threatens not only Jews, but all innocent people, and emphasized that although Israel has suffered at the moment, we must recognize that all other countries could be targeted by the next terrorist attack.
He accused Hamas of encouraging civilian casualties to draw international sympathy and neutralize Israeli attacks, and of stockpiling rockets in schools and hiding command posts in the basements of hospitals in central cities.
He said that anyone who thinks that criticizing civilian sacrifices will tie Israel’s hands and buy Hamas time is misjudging, and argued that both Israel and Palestine can escape suffering only by eliminating Hamas.
He said that in the years before the Hamas massacre, there were signs of a better Middle East emerging as cooperation advanced from the Persian Gulf to North Africa, a direction in which Israel could finally get along with its neighbors.
He said that discussion of the situation after the war will be one of the key issues to be discussed during U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Israel.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.